VALENCE

VALENCE is an indie urban fantasy audio drama, told as a serial and set in the city of New Candler. An ensemble performs it, and the cast credits run long. In 'Halo', Josh Rubino voices Liam Alden and a part credited as Liam's Inner Voice, Naomi McMillan plays Morgan Riley, Jordan Cobb plays Sarah Harris, and Ashani Kanatkar, Katie Chin, John Westover, Caleb Del Rio and Alex Welch round out the group. That episode finds the story in the middle of an operation. Journalists have been contacted, allies have been told to lie low with documented alibis, and every step allows for the chance that Riley retaliates. Then the team moves on a house. One member shuts down the security system while others cover and scout, and a dampening spell keeps the noise down. In this scene, magic is a practical tool used by people expecting trouble. The tension still leaves room for humor, and a sudden appearance mid-mission draws a startled complaint. There is a quieter note too. Standing outside the house, a character remarks that it looks smaller than remembered, and wonders whether they were simply that small the last time they stood there. The show sends listeners to content warnings in its show notes and transcripts, and struggles with mental health are named among the things it depicts. The story runs through a third season to a finale. The feed around it is unusually open about how the show was made. In Scoring Magic episodes, Will Williams, who made VALENCE, talks through the end of production. One of those episodes was recorded just after Williams finished writing the second-to-last episode. It turns emotional as Williams describes hearing the last of Jordan's lines as Sarah and Caleb's final ad-lib, and it also promises a Q&A built from listener questions about the series. Other Hug House Productions shows share the feed. How to Act Ferelden is a field guide to Dragon Age, and its conversation reaches Baldur's Gate 3 and the D20s that appear on screen. Never Morphed has Williams reading Animorphs for the first time. The Deposition is a dramatic reading of the public-record transcript of an Elon Musk deposition, with Rubino and Anne Baird among the performers. The feed also includes a sample of The Harbingers, an Audacious Machine Creative fantasy about Adam and Amy, rivals from grad school who become the first real magicians of the modern era.